Dec 1st

The Dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown has left me wondering if there was one primary reason for her dismissal, or if it was a combination of several issues. At first I thought it was a censorship issue, meaning Miss Brown would not censor library materials. Farther into the book I thought it might be a race issue, and once I got to the end of the book I thought it might be a gender issue. Certainly all of these issues played a role.

I think censorship was more of an excuse than a reason is this story. The town made a big deal about a few magazines in the library, but even after Miss Brown was fired, the library renewed their subscription to those magazines. It was just more politically correct to attack someone for being a “commie” than to attack someone for standing up or themselves, or for standing up for civil rights.

The race issue was a volatile one, and I do find it a little bit surprising that Miss Brown took such a strong stance, given where she grew up and where she lived. Certainly she was well read which contributed to her position. I am surprised at how much action she took. It is one thing to have a position on an issue. It is entirely another thing to stand up for your position, as Miss Brown did. Taking a black woman to her all white church and taking black friends to a drug store were very bold steps.

I don’t know much about the politics in this period of American history. I think there are a lot of undercurrents at work that I might not know about, it was striking to me how similar McCarthyism is to the patriot act and the current atmosphere. People were asked, and may have been willing, to give up some rights for the appearance of security (them from communism, us from “terrorists”). I think this did play a role. Under normal circumstances people may have been more willing to stand up for Miss Brown, but the political atmosphere was volatile, and the witch hunt may have turned on her supporters, so many kept quiet.

When Miss Brown was questioned about her actions, she refused to answer some questions, except in writing, and she was very bold in her answers. She did not fold under pressure, as a woman would be expected to do. I think that the fact that this woman would not fall in line as expected was really what upset people.  

Ultimately, I think the issue was that Miss Ruth Brown did not conform to the expected norms of her town. She didn’t act the way either a woman or a white person was expected to act.  Since she was a single woman, she was a little more vulnerable than a man or even a married woman may have been. She certainly was brave, and I think it is great that her story has been told.